Sticks and Stones
by AriMarvelUniverse
Summary: The entire spirit world is convinced that Jack and Bunny are in love, and its ripping one Summer Sprite's heart to pieces. Aster/OC, fluffy nonsense.
1. Chapter 1

Aurelia was most definitely not a gossip. She hated the nasty words, the stupid rumours and hateful mutterings, and as such she tried her hardest to stay away from it all.

Unfortunately for her, the rest of the spirit world THRIVED off of gossip, particularly her fellow summer elementals. Like most seasonal spirits without a proper place to stay, Aurelia primarily lived in the ethereal hollow where Mother Nature had made her home, but her Guardian status and close friendships with spirits of other seasons (including one infamous, white haired winter elf with a certain staff and penchant for causing chilly mayhem...not to mention the dumb feud going on between Manny and Mother Nature) made her an outcast among the summer sprites, and caused her to spend most of her time either at the Pole or the Warren, where she hibernated in the off season.

Bunny made a much fluffier pillow than the one in her hammock, anyway.

Aurelia didn't complain about being a pariah. She didn't like the others, either. She found them flashy and petty and single minded, and the only time they deigned to speak directly to her was when they were spreading the gossip she hated so much.

Like right now.

"Au-_reeee_-lia! You are never going to BE-_LIEVE_ this!"

Djim, probably the flashiest and most petty of any fire spirit to ever exist, drifted in her door without so much as a wave and proceeded to make himself right at home on the floor of her room. Aurelia turned dull amber eyes on him, barely glancing up from the half finished sculpture in her hands.

It was taking her longer to craft than she had thought it would, but she was trying to mold the lump of shining obsidian into the form of a leaping rabbit as an Easter surprise for Bunnymund. She wasn't as artistic or patient as he was and honestly the project was starting to piss her off, but imagining the look on the Pooka's face when she gave it to him kept her from scrapping the whole idea and tossing it back into the volcano she'd pulled it from.

"Djim." she dead panned. "I'm shocked you knew where I was."

"How could I not know, Reily?" Djim scoffed, crossing his legs and lounging back against the post that held up her hammock. Djim was ironically similar to Jack in the way that he acted, but he had only the bad qualities and none of the good.

"Only my friends call me that."

"We're not friends? That hurts, Reily. We're practically sib-"

"What do you want?" she snapped, a tiny spark of flame flickering at the ends of her chesnut red waves. Djim recoiled slightly, and Aurelia wondered if a bit of Bunny's temper was rubbing off on her, not that she needed it.

"There's a bet going, and I was wondering if you were interested."

"Probably not. Goodbye, Djim."

The summer spirit smiled at the snub, showing off soot blackened teeth. "Aw, are you sure? It's about your little friends in the Guardian's club, after all." At this, her head shot up, and her eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm shocked you haven't heard, Reily! About that little annoyance Frost, and the Rabbit?" Seeing her face, his smile widened until it was ear to ear. "There's a pool around the Hollow that says they'll shag before June."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you haven't noticed. The way they pretend to hate each other? It's so obvious. Eros SWEARS he didn't have anything to do with it, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, want to place a wager?"

But she was already gone, the half finished stature forgotten on the floor, edges still sizzling.

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

Most seasonal spirits could fly, albeit in different ways. Where Jack kept his form and manipulated the wind, Aurelia became the essence of her element, dissolving into a warm summer breeze.

She wasn't a breeze now though- she was a summer storm, hot, wet, and raging as she blew around the globe. Thunder, lightning, wind, heavy rains, all battering down on innocent countries, embodying the fury of the spirit that controlled them.

Inside the storm, Aurelia was sobbing. She ignored MiM's gentle tugs at her essence and pushed everything away but her own misery. Djim's horribly excited words bounced around in her head and wouldn't stop.

Bunny and Jack. Jack and Bunny. Jack and-

_ It's not true it can't be true it can't it can't_

_'The way they pretend to hate each other?'_

They did, all the pranks and tense moments and snappish remarks, but then there were other times, softer times, times when...

_NO NO NO IT'S NOT TRUE IT'S NOT_

Tooth's little squeals every time Bunny showed Jack the slightest bit of attention, North's winks, Sandy's silent LOOKS, smirks-

She saw Jack, and saw Bunny...saw Jack's pale thin fingers carding themselves in deep soft fur, his pink lips on velvety ears, deep blue eyes staring into spring greens though a haze of sweat and silver hair and no no NO NO-!

"-going on? REILY!?"

The yell pulled her up short, startled her out of her anger. The storm stopped in its tracks. Aurelia dragged herself out of her own thoughts, came back to herself.

Jack Frost hung in the air in front of her, struggling to stay airborne. His face was a mixture of worry, confusion, and wariness. The sight of him made her clouds swell in anger. He peered closer, trying to pierce the gloom of the enormous storm. "Reily? Is that you?"

Aurelia wanted to hurt him, swamp him with lightning and engulf him in the hot clouds until he was never seen again. A murderous, sour feeling welled in her gut. Thunder rumbled loudly over their heads.

"Aurelia, come on. It's me, Jack? Frostbite? Snowflake? The Pain in the Ass with a crooked stick?"

Snowflake. Bunny called him Snowflake when he was being nice, Frostbite when he wasn't.

What did he call him when they were...

Jack wet his lips and tried again, fully aware of how dangerous a pissed summer spirit could be. If winter sprites were generally cold and unreachable, then summer sprites were the exact opposite. Their emotions tended to run away from AND with them. A stubbed toe could easily turn into a hundred acre forest fire.

"Reily, whatever happened, let's just...talk about it, okay?" Jack tried, holding out his hands in a appeasing gesture.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then the storm started to shrink. She reformed slowly, shifting back into a teenage girl, shaking with anger. Her hair was alight, burning tears streaming down her face, chest heaving. She looked around and saw that they were somewhere tropical- Fiji, probably. They were miles out to sea. Tall, furious waves crashed and rolled under their feet, and palm trees fought to stay anchored on the mainland.

Jack was sweating from the warm weather. He was panting too, and his hair was plastered to his forehead with rain and sweat. Oddly, she could see specs of bright paint dotting his blue hoodie. "Reily, what happened to you?"

"Where were you?"

"Huh?" Jack looked down at his clothes and noticed the splatters of colour. "Oh...I was helping Bunny in the Warren."

Was he blushing? Why was he holding his body like that, like he was sore? Was that a BRUISE on his neck?!

Sore, hot, covered in paint and dirt and REEKING of Earth magic-

"Why?"

"What?"

"The Warren's too warm for you," Aurelia snapped. "You said so yourself. You don't like planting, either. Why were you there?"

"I was...we were...Reily, what's wrong with you?" Jack's smirk was bewildered. She hated him for the concern gleaming in his eyes. He reached out for her, and she pulled away, sucking back tears. "So it's true..."

"What? What's true? Reily? Reily, wait!"


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Hey everybody, short little notice here. I realize that I'm making a lot of references here about my OC and the plot. I will explain ALL of this in her origin/Rotg story that I'm writing and will publish soon. In the meantime, be intrigued, and please update. I'm trying to see if she's well received or not, but all I'm getting is crickets...O.o**

**Also! Much love to the JackRabbit pairing, even though I'm poking fun at it. I ship it occasionally. I love Bunny and Jack together, but Aster is just yummy and I wanted him for this OC LOLZ. Please please PLEASE REVIEW!)**

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

"_Aaaack! Hak-hak-hak-"_

Coughing and gasping, Jack dragged himself out of the sea and onto the nearest sandbar. He took in a shaky breath, then bent double and immediately starting hacking up enough seawater from his lungs to fill a fish tank. It lasted for five minutes, until he was no longer drowning from the inside out.

"Thank MiM for immortality..." he muttered, wiping a dribble of saliva from his chin. He rolled onto his back to try to get his air back after his impromptu swim, squinting up at the sky through hazy blue eyes. Reily was long gone. Her storm had cleared out after she'd tried to kill him, leaving the waves calm once more and the skies their previous shade of paradise blue.

"What the hell was that about?" Jack sighed, rubbing a hand through his wet hair. It wasn't like he was any stranger to angry spirits trying to kill him, but he hadn't seen Aurelia in weeks; ergo, he hadn't played any pranks of any kind on her (or Bunny, which she tended to respond to sometimes.)

That had seemed like more than her being pissed about a dumb prank, though. That was real, raw hurt and anger. If he wasn't dead already, he'd have been swimming with the fishes- quite literally, actually.

He lay there while the sun dried his clothes, running their conversation through his mind and only getting more confused. Why would she care that he was at the Warren?

He sat up with a groan, wiping sweat from his forehead and officially giving up. He summoned the wind and took off for the Pole. North would know, or Bunny. Reily and the fuzzball were pretty much attached at the hip these days. Maybe HE could calm her down before she destroyed Hawaii or something.

**«»«»«»«»«»**

It was true, she was certain. Djim was right. Jack and Bunny were...

She'd missed her chance. She could see it now. Everything was adding up before her eyes.

She wondered if Jack knew about Pitch and the other Pookas. If there were love marks hiding underneath that damn hoodie.

Aurelia was no longer a storm. Her anger had run out a while ago, leaving her heavy and depressed. She dove into the first active volcano she could find, in Hawaii, coincidentally, melting into the boiling lava. Her wretched sobs triggered another flow, gushing out from cracks in the rock in time with her cries. The natives shuddered, whispering amongst themselves that Madam Pele was in the throes of jealous rage.

They didn't know just how close they were to the truth.

**«»«»«»«»«»**

"-and then she just took off!" Jack yelped, waving his hands over his head in an imitation of a flying, pissed off Summer spirit. Standing around the fireplace in the enormous Globe room of the North Pole, North, Sandy and Tooth listened to Jack's strange tale with concerned frowns and crossed arms.

Well, Sandy slept, but the others listened.

"Did she say anything?" North rumbled, stroking his long white beard with a clouded expression. Jack dropped his arms and raked his snow white bangs back from his forehead.

"She didn't say a word. She just tried to drown me, started crying, and left. Do girl spirits still get PMS?"

"Jack," Tooth cut in gently, "that doesn't make any sense. People don't just fly into a rage over nothing." Jack glared blankly at her, then started counting names off his fingers. "Bunny. Reily- every summer spirit that's ever existed, deities, North when the elves jam cookies in the sleigh exhaust pipes..."

"_Da, da_." North huffed, waving the statement away. "But you and Aurelia are good friends, yes? She would not try to kill you unless she had good reason."

"Thanks so much, North," Jack deadpanned dryly. The big man sighed and uncrossed his arms, walking slowly toward the trigger for the nothern lights. "I go to call Bunny. He and Reily very close."

"Maybe too close." Jack muttered sourly. "She's acting more like him every day."

"Jack, maybe she was just having a bad day." Tooth reasoned. "We all have them, you know. Your last one was in '68, so..." she trailed off, and Jack flinched at the unsubtle reminder. "Yeah, I guess."

"I have talked with Bunny," North boomed, striding back in and wringing his hands. "He will be here very quick. He, er, was not in very good mood, however."

They only had to wait ten minutes before a portal hole was opening up in the middle of the room, and the Guardian of Hope was emerging from it. "North, ah swear ta Mim, somebody better have carked it." he snarled, before they could say a word. The Pooka was a mess, the fact that it was exactly four weeks to Easter showing all over him like glow in the dark paint. Globs of dried color and chocolate stuck in his usually smooth grey pelt and made it spiky and unkempt looking, and his verdant eyes were shadowed with exhaustion.

Excluding the infamous '68 disaster, he was in the worst mood Jack had ever seen him. "Do ya know what DAY it is? Do ya lot realize at ALL-"

"Bunny-"

"-how much damned WORK I have left-"

"Bunny, listen-"

"DRAG me up here, North, I'm behind by at least two weeks-!"

"WOULD YOU SHOVE CARROT IN AND LISTEN?!" North bellowed, making the flames flicker with the force of his shout and startling Sandy into awakeness. Bunny shut his mouth with a snap, settling for a room wide glare instead. "Fine," he snapped. He stalked over to the arm chair closest to the fire and slouched down into it. "Let's just get tha damn meetin' over with. What's it this time? Pitch? New bloody spirit? Some other shitty world ending catastrophe that's gonna ruin my holiday?"

Jack caught his sight, who still looked waterlogged, and he snorted. "Ya look like hell, Frostbite. Been screwin' with the Naids again?"

They'd sworn never to bring that up again. Biting back his yelp of '_It wasn't like that!'_, Jack gave him a tight grin. "Have YOU, Roo?"

Bunny's nose wrinkled in confusion. "What's that supposed ta mean?"

"Your girlfriend Aurelia was pretty upset earlier. Didja step out on her or something?" Jack smirked. The fur on the back of Bunny's neck bristled.

"She ain't my-...Reily's upset?" he trailed off, expression changing from angry to concerned in the span of one of Jack's non existent heartbeats.

"Upset? No, she wasn't upset." Jack said, leaning back on his staff. "She was downright HOMICIDAL. She tried to kill me in the Bahamas."

Bunny frowned. "That's why ya look like a drowned rat? That doesn't sound like her."

"Uhhh, yeah, it kind of does."

"That's what I said," Tooth steamrolled over Jack's snarky comment. "She's usually so high spirited..."

"Are we talking about the same Aurelia? The one that hangs out with _Bunny?"_

"Maybe she had another blue with Mother Nature." Bunny muttered, sitting up straight now. "The old Sheila never did forgive Reily for choosin' ta be a Guardian."

"Tried to kill me? Set a Yeti on fire? Am I invisible again or something?!"

"Jack, did she say anything strange to you?" North asked worriedly. Jack threw up his hands with an exasperated noise and slumped against the wall, giving up. "No. I already told you, all she said was 'So it's true', then she started wailing and flew off. I still think it's PMS."

"So it's true?" Bunny echoed. "What the fresh hell does that mean?"

Jack shrugged. "I dunno. She got really mad after I told her I was in the Warren helping you and- what's wrong with you?" he blurted suddenly, turning to Tooth to direct the last part of his question at the Faerie Queen. She had started to shift and fidget nervously. Something had just dawned horribly on her, and her violet eyes were wide and anxious. "N-nothing, sweet tooth," she said quickly, flashing him a huge smile. North had caught a blush over the tufts of his mustache, and had edged away from Bunny slightly.

Bunny's nose flared at the overwhelming scent of GUILT choking the air, and his and Jack's eyes narrowed, twin slivers of suspicious green and blue."You know why she's pissed, don't you?" Jack drawled.

"Is nothing, Jack, is nothing." North laughed nervously, sharing a panic filled look with Tooth. Sandy conjured up a miniature easy chair and a sand image of popcorn and a soda hat, waving a foam finger excitedly in the air.

"You guys are sucky liars." Jack grinned, delighted at having caught an older Guardian with the look of _ohshit _plastered all over their face. "What'd you do?" Tooth looked ready to burst. North, to his credit, tried to back out of the situation one last time. "Who would like nice, warm glass of eggnog?" he said, loud and desperate. He started to make a beeline for the kitchens and Bunny was up and put of his chair in an instant, blocking his view with a murderous expression on his face.

"You get yer eggnog chuggin' arse back in here and tell us what ya did." he threatened. Crestfallen, North obeyed, letting out a heavy sigh. "We must tell them, Tooth."

"Tell us _whaaat_?" Jack whined, bouncing on his heels. The suspense was killing him.

"Is nothing big, not major. But, er..."

"There might have been, uhm...a bet?" Tooth squeaked.

"A bet." Bunny deadpanned, staring at the two of them.

"Yes...about you and...and Jack. Doing...things, with mouths and hands and bodies..." North was reddening the longer he talked, and so was everyone else EXCEPT Sandy, who was laughing his silent, golden ass off.

"What-what-what- Oh, oh God..." Jack gagged, bright blue with frosty blush. He dropped his staff in disgust and wrapped his hands around his own throat, dry hurling with gusto. "Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! WHY?! Why in-"

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!" Bunny yelled, making everyone cringe at the volume. His pelt was bristling to almost twice his size. "YOU MADE A BLOODY BET ABOUT ME DOIN' THE NASTY WITH _FROSTBITE?!"_

"Guys, REALLY? I might have been alone for a while but I have freaking standards!"

"HE'S DAMN-NEAR A_ BABY_! HE'S A PAIN IN MY _ARSE!_ WHY WOULD YA EVER-?!"

"You can't really blame us, with the way you two act!" Tooth said shrilly. "Always picking at each other and dancing around each other and teasing and playing pranks. You act like lovesick schoolkids!"

"Aye," North mumbled gravely, shooting a glare at Sandy, who was gasping for air. "Who all is in on this?" Jack asked, incredulously, since Bunny was still too pissed to talk.

"E-everybody," Tooth sighed. "I think Ares bet his chariot on it..."

"Must be why Aurelia tried to hurt Jack." North mumbled sheepishly. "Bet that another Summer spirit spilled beans. They can not close mouths to save lives."

"But why would Reily care about me and B-Bunny...ugh, God, I can't even say it." Jack shuddered. The mere THOUGHT was enough to make him stay away from Bunny for another three centuries, just because.

"I dunno, but I gotta find 'er," Bunny muttered darkly, running a hand over his face. "She's bound to be mad as a cut snake after hearin' a furphy like that."

"Maybe you should just let her chill out for a while. She's liable to skin your fuzzy hide." Jack suggested, but Bunny shook his head. "No. I'll find 'er and talk to 'er and put this all to rights."

"Yes, Bunny, you must go and find our friend." North nodded, still having the grace to look ashamed.

"For the record guys, we're really sorry." Tooth sniffed.

"Too right," Bunny snapped, "and yeh'll be apologizin' ta Reily when I get back...AND callin' off that bodgy bet." They both flinched, but nodded meekly.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he tapped open a portal to Mother Nature's Hollow. "Me and Frostbite...lost yer ripping minds..."

"So guys..." Jack started, once he was out of earshot.

"Seriously, who topped?"


	3. Chapter 3

Bunny was still steaming when his tunnel opened up outside the threshold of Mother Nature's hollow. The sky was eternally steeped in twilight, a timeless mixture of light and soft dark far from Pitch's suffocating slimy shadows.

He crouched on all fours until he reached the thick copse of gigantic willow trees that formed a menacing barrier outside of the entrance, swaying slowly without a breeze. The knots and whirls in the bark, reminiscent of eyes and ever vigilant, watched him as he drew closer. He stopped, and raised up on two legs, swallowing nervously as the tree's movement increased slightly. These were no normal trees. He could feel the pulse of sentient life coursing through them. They were aware, and solely dedicated to protecting the hollow from all threats. As innocent as they looked, they could and would rip him apart in seconds, and water the grass with his innards.

Bunny grimaced at the image of flying rabbit gizzards and cleared his throat, trying to temper his irritation and sound polite. "Er, G'day. E. Aster Bunnymund. I was wonderin' if I could have a little chat with Mother Nature."

The trees appraised him silently, but didn't part to let him in. Bunny let out a short sigh and rapped his foot against the ground, tempted to open a portal into the hollow but knowing it was suicide, ever since the dumb little row between Manny and Mother Nature. "It's important," he growled.

Still nothing- if anything, they seemed to draw closer together. The eyes in the wood were glaring at him, and he glared back. Worry for Reily mixed with the magic itching under his skin, willing him to simply MOVE the fucking trees aside on his own and be done with this crap. "Look ya dodgy twigs, a sprite might be in trouble and I need ta find her so screw off and move!" he snapped, losing his grip on his already short temper. They were still hunting down monster's from Pitch's last attempt to take them down, and the thought of her freaking out somewhere alone made him twitch.

The trees shuddered, looming over him threateningly. He ground his teeth together and ran the flat of his thumb along the sharp edge of his boomerangs. Then suddenly, they drew apart and cleared his way. "Thank ya kindly," he snorted, brushing past them.

The place wasn't unlike his own Warren, filled to bursting with plant and wildlife, but with a few major differences. It was bigger, for one, MUCH bigger, sectioned off into different areas that apparently had their own seasons. One side was speckled with warm, beaming sunlight and bursting with oak trees, but less than twenty feet away were pine trees ladden down with ice and holly. He heard giggling and snickering, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the eyes of spites watching him as he passed, hissing and chattering.

In the center was the Mother herself, seated at a endlessly long table that was always set up for some kind of tea party. The sight of her made Aster bristle and relax at the same time. She smiled, and he got the image of a grinning dragon.

"Aster," she purred sweetly, spreading her arms wide as if to hug him. "To what do I and my humble hollow owe the pleasure of hosting the _Guardian_ of _Hope?"_ Bunny barely stopped his eyes from narrowing at the funny little emphasis on his title.

"Mama." he said shortly, struggling to remain pleasant. "It's Reily. She's...upset, and we can't find 'er."

Mother Nature raised a slim black brow, and he nearly shivered at how much she looked like her father. "Upset?"

He was pretty damn sure she knew all about it, but she just wanted to put him through the wringer. "Like a hornet in a bottle," he agreed solemnly. "She heard a, er...a rumor, and sorta...flipped out."

"A rumor?"

Bunny gritted his teeth and forced out a laugh. "Yeah. Seems some of yer sprites started one about me an' Frostbite."

"Not one of _my_ sprites, surely." Mother let out a tinkling laugh. "That sounds like something Jack Frost would do for attention."

"He didn't know anything about it!" Bunny protested. "And isn't Jacko one of yer sprites still? Or does MiM makin' him a Guardian kill that?"

Her eyes darkened for a split second, and a chill went through the air. "Of course," she said, but he wasn't convinced.

"Ask one of 'em if ya don't believe me." Bunny huffed. Mother gave him a placating smile and waved down one of the summer spirits that had been eavesdropping the whole time. "Djim, did you know anything about this...bet?"

The dark skinned boy lowered his head in fake guilt, but Bunny could see the smug little grin on his face. "Yes, Mama. We said they'd..." He paused and grinned slowly, and the others giggled some more, making Bunny flush under his fur.

"Ya nasty little wanker," he snarled. Mother Nature stepped in between him and the spirit, waving his anger away. "Now now, Bunny, it was just a laugh. I'm sure they didn't mean it."

"Aurelia wasn't laughin'," he snapped, squinting his eyes against the headache growing in his skull. This place drove him damn nuts. "Can ya help me find 'er or not?"

"I would have though Man in The Moon could easily keep track of one of his precious Guardians," she countered swiftly. "Has he not spoken with you?"

"Ah..."

"Interesting," she said lightly. "I wonder why Aurelia would care so much about a silly rumor concerning your relationship with Frost."

Bunny was shaking, swallowing down growls...he was THIS close-

"She's in Hawaii, inside the Kīlauea volcano, currently crying her eyes out." Mother Nature's eyes were suddenly frigid and sharp. She had tired of screwing with him. Bunny winced and lowered his eyes to the grass.

"...Right."

Mother Nature wasn't done. "Listen closely, Aster. Aurelia and I may have had our differences, but the fact remains that she is my Daughter, and your continued neglect of her feelings is causing her pain."

"I never-"

"Do not lie to me, Rabbit." she snapped, fixing him with fiery green eyes as her hair whipped and moved around her face. "I am well aware of your personal feelings and your self erected barriers, but you will make your intentions clear to my Daughter, or you will leave her be."

Bunny gaped openly at her, stunned into silence. He let out a few choked noises, trying to speak, but she waved her hand once again, dismissing him.

"Goodbye, Aster. I shall see you at the next Guardian Christmas party." The sugary smile was back in place. Bunny blinked, shook his head, and tapped open a portal, for once in his life at a loss for words.

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

Depressed, betrayed, and trying SO VERY HARD to stop thinking, Aurelia huddled on the rocky lip of the volcano and gazed down into the roiling lava, heated tears drying on her face. All of her raging hurt and sadness had run out. Now, she just felt empty, hollow.

Far below, the nightly luaus were starting up on the beach as the sky darkened. She watched vacationing couples dance and spin under the open sky to the music, laughing happily, and her heart clenched in her chest.

Why hadn't Bunny just...told her? Didn't she at least deserve that much?

Maybe she didn't. Maybe they weren't as good of friends as she thought. She tried to tell herself that the only reason she was upset was because Bunny kept it from her, but she couldn't even lie to herself that convincingly. Her heart wouldn't feel like mulch if that was the only problem.

No, the real problem was...

"I l-love him," she whispered, like a sordid confession, wrapping her arms tight around her body. There was no point in denying it anymore, or trying to pass it off as something else. She loved Bunny, and everything about him- his temper, when he would forget to act human and showed his rabbit characteristics, the way he snored like a chainsaw, the feel of his thick fur nestled under her cheek when they fell asleep in the same armchair, the drawl of his accent in her ears. Even his gruff, gritty exterior, and the soft hearted teddy bear she knew hid beneath it, and his love and undying devotion for his Center and his Element.

Knowing it made it no easier to reconcile with. The revelation sent a fresh torrent of agony knifing through her. She didn't even blame Jack. She couldn't. She blamed herself for being scared, for hesitating.

The moon rose, staring down at her with its milky face, but for once since she'd become a Guardian it gave her no comfort.

"_vwooomp..."_

The sound of the portal opening hit her seconds before his voice did, and by then it was too late to run.

"Crikey, Sheila. It's hotter than Satan's arse up here."

Aurelia flinched and quickly scrubbed away the remaining moisture clinging to her face as Bunny clambered up the short distance of the volcano side to her perch. She said nothing as he sat down next to her and shook his head at the height.

"High, too...not a bad view, though." he said, flicking a long ear at the moon above. Aurelia grunted and gazed at her bare toes on the black rock. Bunny went quiet, and they sat there in silence for a moment, until he cleared his throat roughly.

"So...how ya goin'?" Immediately, he wanted to kick himself for the dumb question. Reily shrugged thin shoulders, still refusing to look him in the face. She looked terrible. The tiny flames that lit her red brown waves were extinguished, and her tan skin was bleached of color. The skin around her periwinkle blue eyes swollen red and puffy.

He wanted to kiss it away, lick and nuzzle and tease, anything to bring that sunny smile back. He cursed Tooth and North in his mind, and let out a loud sigh. "Listen, Reily. About earlier, with Frostbite-"

"I'll say sorry later," she mumbled quickly, praying to MiM that he was only angry at her for attacking Jack. "I was just...it...I..." She had no excuse. Please don't let him ask for an excuse.

"Reily-"

"I-if Mama told you to find me, you can tell her I'm fine," she interrupted frantically. "And North too...I-it was just...bad day and-"

"REILY." Bunny boomed, grabbing for her shoulder to shut her up. "I know."

"H-huh?"

Bunny rubbed a paw over his eyes. "I know about tha bet, Sheila."

Aurelia paled even more, throat working. She tried to hack out a semblance of a nonchalant laugh- it came out sounding like she was being choked. "I...y-yeah. Look Bunny, I'm, I'm happy for you, okay? I really am. Congratulations. It's...it's f-fine. A-and I h-hope..."

"Reily!" he snapped suddenly, fixing her with an exasperated green glare. "Listen ta me- there is NOTHIN' between me and Jack."

There was a beat of stunned silence, then two, then three, and Bunny wondered if she'd broken.

"W-what d-did you...?"

"There's nothin', I repeat, NOTHIN' happening between me an' Frostbite." Bunny said slowly, clearly. "Some buggery little fire twink made it up and spread it 'round, but we ain't doin' the nasty, or anythin' close to it."

Aurelia couldn't believe her ears. "W-why not? Because he's human?"

"Cause he's JACK." Bunny clarified, shuddering. Her lips spread into a slow smile, and she chuckled wetly, wiping her nose. Just like that, her world was back in alignment again.

"I guess I should have known that." she said sheepishly. Bunny snorted and crossed his arms. "Too right. Why didn't ya just come an' ask me? I woulda set ya right, BEFORE ya went off on a winter spirit killin' spree."

She blushed hotly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't think...I just assumed that..."

"Ya think I'd keep somethin' like that from ya?" Bunny asked, tone more gentle than before. "Reily, we're mates. Yer the sanest one out of our strange little dodgy group." The expression on his face left no room for doubt, and Aurelia full out grinned. "I know. I'm sorry, Bunny."

"Good'onya." The quiet they fell into this time was one of relief and easiness, and they both watched the humans frolicking in the moonlight down below, ukulele music floating up on the warm breeze.

"Reily...I been thinkin'." Aurelia glanced at him and saw that his face was once more contorted in a mask of seriousness, and that his eyes were fixed on a point in the middle distance. "I went ta go see Mother when I was lookin' for ya. We had an... interesting little talk."

The first pricklings of fear began to return, and she shifted, mouth rapidly going dry. "Y-yeah?" she swallowed.

_Please please not this not this don't let her have said anything please._

Things were good again, uncomplicated, please oh please no-

"Mm." Bunny muttered, picking at his bandolier. "She made me...see some things. Bout me, and...about ya."

_She did, she did, oh shit, shit! Play it off! _"I, um...I'm not sure what you mean, Bunny."

Bunny snorted gruffly. "Naw, I think ya know exactly what I mean, sheila. Ya got something to tell me?" He was well aware that he could have been handling this a little better, but the thick presence of emotions and painful things was making him bristle. He wanted to bolt, truthfully. He looked over at the summer spirit, and saw that she was frozen in disbelief.

Dammit. This was going downhill fast. He should have never opened his gob.

"She told you," Aurelia whispered, vocal cords paralyzed with slowly building anger.

Bunny huffed out a thick breath. "...Yeah. So...ya wanna share with tha class?"

Aurelia flinched at his brisk tone. Was he mocking her?

"What do you want to hear, Bunny?" she snapped finally, defensively, like a cornered and wounded animal. "I like you, alright? I like you...I...I think I l-love you. I hurt Jack because when I heard that rumor I just..." She turned her face away and chomped down hard on her tongue, unable to watch his reaction.

"When did-"

"Since...since...I don't know. A while..."

This time, the silence stretched on longer than the two times before combined, and Aurelia felt tears welling again, but she refused to let them fall.

There was suddenly the feeling of warm fur on her face, and two strong arms coiling tentatively around her body. She yelped in shock and froze for a millisecond, before her body instinctively relaxed.

"Sheila...why didn't ya bleedin' SAY so?" Bunny breathed harshly.

"B-Bunny..." And she was sobbing again, this time from relief so strong it nearly carried her away, soaking his chest fur with boiling moisture.

"Ah, Reily, I...ya sure ya wanna do this? I'm...I'm old an'...I'm..." He was stunned to find his own voice shaking. It wasn't right of him to accept this, to selfishly bind her to him in ways and meanings she had no depth about, his problems, his own pain and memories...

She was young, and he had no right to force her to deal with just how damaged he was on the inside. A part of him knew no matter how much he loved her, his barriers would never come down, though she would never stop trying, and it wasn't fair to her.

"I don't care," she growled, clenching his fur tight in her fingers. "I don't care, I don't...I want you, Bunny, and I won't have anyone else."

He had no right, but damned if he was going to do it. He deserved this. He deserved HER. The sudden fire in her words stirred something deep and long forgotten in his heart. He sighed deeply and shuttered his eyes.

"Aster, Sheila." he mumbled into her cinnamon scented locks. "M'names Aster." Only a select few had ever known that about him, but telling Aurelia somehow felt...right, as if it cemented the declarations and feelings floating around their heads.

"...A-Aster," she sniffed. She rolled the name around her tongue. It tasted like chocolate and comforting musk and the zing of new life.

...Or maybe that was just the mouthful of fur she currently had pressed into her face, but she didn't mind one bit.

When they returned back to the pole, if anyone noticed that they were holding hands, they didn't mention it.


End file.
